Giving Life a Second Try
by SackDantOur
Summary: He'd taken Zahard's head with his own two hands but at a far too heavy price. They were all dead, every single person who'd fought alongside him were long goon. But with Zahard's death a new path revealed itself, past the 134th floor. Few get a second try in life, to correct past mistakes, which was why the 25th Baam was going to make the most of this opportunity. (Time travel.)


**_Description:_** He'd lived for millennia. Once the weakest, now the single most powerful entity in the tower. He'd taken Zahard's head with his own two hands but at a far too heavy a price. They were all dead, every single person who'd fought alongside him were long goon. But with Zahard's death a new path revealed itself, past the 134th floor.

 _What is your which?_ The Guardian of the 135th floor asked.

"Let me do it again." The Twenty-Fifth Baam answered. "Give me a second chance and I will make it right this time."

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1 – A second chance_**

In a dark room a beautiful princess was sleeping soundly, letting out cute snoring noises. That was until a short, white haired man, came barging into her room, screaming at the top of his lungs about something relating to paths changing and irregulars arriving earlier than they were supposed to. Princess Yuri Zahard was not a morning person, no she most certainly was not, and although she was called a princess she most definitely didn't act like one. In a single swift motion she vaulted out of bed, taking her covers with her as she spun, before delivering an axe kick aimed at the intruder. The kick connected, sending the short man sprawling to the floor.

"Damnit Evan! How many times have I told you not to wake me up in the middle of the night!? I thought you knew better!"

Evan Edrok did know better. He'd learned from experience that a tired Yuri possessed about the same temper as a starved grizzly bear, so in retrospect he probably shouldn't have barged into her room in the middle of the night, but he somehow felt his ward needed to know of the sudden change in the timeline – at least that had been his thoughts at the time but after receiving that kick he might have come to regret his decision. Oh well, live and learn.

"I'm sorry lady Yuri. I just thought you'd like to know…"

"Know what?" Yuri interrupted.

Gods… she was temperamental. "The paths have changed."

"What's that now?"

It looked like the princess was about to slap him so Evan hurriedly continued. "The paths connecting the tower, they're different. The timeline has changed!"

At the pleading look on Evan's face, Yuri sighed. "Evan, you know I'm not a guide. You have to explain what that means."

Evan opened his mouth about to explain the intricacies of path-and time dilation but then promptly stopped. What was the point? He'd tried to explain the abilities of a guide many times before to Lady Yuri, but so far she hadn't absorbed any of the information. The subject simply didn't interest her, so he saw no reason why she'd bother listening to his explanation this time; especially considering the bad mood she was in after having just woken up. So instead of wasting time trying to explain something the princess wouldn't bother learning anyway, Evan decided to just skip to the point he knew Lady Yuri would be interested in.

"Someone has opened the Tower doors by themselves."

Now this got Yuri's attention as her head immediately snapped up. "An irregular has entered the Tower?"

"Yes."

Princess Yuri was now wide awake. "What? Really? We have to go see this person." With no regard for the male in the room, Yuri hurriedly started dressing by first throwing her nightgown to the floor and then grabbing a pair of black pants.

Evan turned around as he adverted his eyes. "Would you please wait until I am out of the room before you start undressing?"

"Why? You embarrassed?"

How she managed to sound so god damn smug when she said that, Evan had no idea. "You're the one that should be embarrassed!"

"You didn't answer the question~" Lady Yuri sang.

"A-anyway, it's too late to go look for him – or her – now." Evan explained, back still turned towards the half-naked princess. "It's gonna take at least a month to reach the bottom floor from here, and by then the person will have left already."

"What…?" Yuri's voice was flat as she sighed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? You're usually pretty good at giving me a heads-up regarding any important events in the tower."

Evan nodded as he creased his eyebrows. "Well… yes. That would normally be the case. My abilities as a guide would have normally warned me of an event like this, even weeks before it happened. Which is why I'm so panicked!"

Finally being dressed properly, Lady Yuri crossed her arms. "So… what does that mean? Is there something special about this irregular?"

"I have no idea. But that's not the strangest part of the puzzle. My abilities as a guide allows me to basically see most possibilities somehow related to the tower, and these possibilities are what us guides call paths. But the important part is that the paths cannot be changed." Here Evan paused in order to take a deep breath, as he had started to hyperventilate. "I repeat, they cannot be changed! Just that they did, the second the tower's doors were opened they vanished and then reappeared in completely different directions."

Evan could practically see the question mark above Yuri's head as she questioned while scratching her head. "And that's a big deal because…?"

"Because…" Evan buried his face in his hands before he continued. "Because in all of the tower's history – or at least for as long as I've been alive – that has never happened before!" He practically screamed the last part.

Yuri remained quiet for a while just to process the information, then she spoke up. "Let's go then!"

"Uh…? Where?"

Lady Yuri looked oddly at her Guide as she said with a deadpan expression. "To greet the new arrival of course. I'd like to know what kind of person this irregular is."

"B-but as I said," Evan stammered, "By the time we reach the bottom floor this person will have probably already left."

Princess Yuri grabbed Evan by the collar as she started dragging him towards the exit. "Then use your Guidly duties and find him for me, ok." It was more of a statement than a question.

"B-but we are both High Rankers. We can't just wander around the Tower as we please…"

"Which is why I'm bringing a Guide. Plus, if someone tries to stand in my way I'll just beat 'em up."

Yeah, that sounded like Lady Yuri alright. Evan sighed. She'd already made up her mind, there was no point arguing. "Fine." Evan groaned more than said.

He just hoped they wouldn't run into any trouble along the way. Yeah… one could only hope.

* * *

Shinsoo, the basis of all energy. The unmovable and unstoppable force which governed all life – which made life itself possible. It was the power which moved the Tower. Shinsoo didn't only give life though, but could just as easily take it. In high concentrations it could be deadly. One such example was the so called 'Red Sea' which connected the first floor of the Tower with the 4th floor. Normally such high concentration of Shinsoo wouldn't exist so far down – Shinsoo originated from the top of the Tower, which was why the Shinsoo density increased as you moved up – but over time the Shinsoo energy, when it had nowhere else to go, had started collecting at the bottom. Centuries upon centuries the energy had continued to gather, slowly increasing the density. Now the Shinsoo sea had reached such an incredibly high concentration that even most Rankers would die within seconds if they were ever unfortunate enough to be submerged, after which their body would slowly start disintegrating.

It was out of this deadly sea that a lone figure emerged, before swimming for the coastline.

As the figure reached land, his body oozing because of the toxic Shinsoo which was dripping of his body, he heaved himself out of the deadly substance before collapsing on dry land. He remained lying there for a little while, just catching his breath, before with a grunt standing up on shaky legs.

He was bloodied and bruised, cuts and scrapes covering his entire body, with pitch-black hair which reached down to his waist and completely hid his face from view.

He'd been submerged for days, traveling from the first floor directly to the 4th. Still incredibly weak, the young boy started walking, using the side of the cliff wall as support as he slowly made his way forward.

In the distance the boy could hear low, growling noises but he ignored them, continuing forward unimpeded. By the time the boy reached the end of the long, rocky tunnel he was breathing heavily but was forced to stop as he finally reached the growling noises. Facing him now was four large creatures, with teeth the size of razorblades.

"Razorhounds…" The boy mumbled. He'd encountered these creatures before of course, as he'd lived long enough to cross paths with every living creature inhabiting the Tower. Back then they hadn't even registered on his radar however, as opposed to now when they – in his weakened state – actually intimidated him a bit. Just a bit though.

With a pained grunt the boy fell to his knees, alerting the four beasts to his presence. The boy simply didn't have the strength to walk strait without the support of a wall.

Looking up, the raven-haired child could see how the Shinheuh had started advancing on him, slowly surrounding their seemingly helpless pray. The closest of the Razorhounds roared before burying its blade-like claws in the ground, easily piercing the rocky floor. The child tried to stand up but had already exerted too much energy and was only able to rise to one knee.

"Come one…" The boy mumbled. He knew his younger body would be weak but this was just ridiculous, it hurt just to breath, which was a strange concept to the boy since he (in his previous body) hadn't felt pain for over 500 years.

The Razorhounds started circling the boy, moving closer and closer while waiting for their leader to attack. They obviously thought this would be an easy hunt, oh how wrong they were. When the Razorhounds moved, so did the child. It was the smallest of movements, barely even a twitch, but for the shortest of timeframes the boy's golden, shining eyes could be glinted behind a tapestry of raven hair. What followed took barely over a second. Four glowing orbs of bright, blue flame blinked into existence, one for each of the Shinheuh, and in a flash they flew. The four beasts barely managed to register what was happening before they were blown into pieces, sending parts – with varying degree of fire damage – in every direction. And just like that it was over, a deafening silence reigning over the small clearing. The boy remained in his half sitting-half standing position a little while, trying to reclaim what little strength his body had access to, before with a grunt pushing himself of the ground.

Soon the boy was walking again, dragging his legs behind him as he pushed forward.

* * *

In his previous life, Baam had never visited the Regulars-district of the 4th floor. He'd been so desperate to save his friends that he'd taken the next test immediately after clearing the third floor, and it wasn't like F.U.G was going to complain about him wanting to clear the Tower as quickly as possible. Now however he wasn't in a hurry. It would probably be at least another two months before Koon, Rak and the others made their way to this floor, so Baam had quite a lot of time to spare.

He was currently making his way through a jungle of sorts, though nature grew thinner and thinner as he moved towards the large, glass buildings which could be hinted in the distance. On his shoulder he carried a large bag which he had created out of Shinsoo, containing Shinheuh parts of various species.

His body was still weak and covered by mud and blood but at least he could walk normally now. He'd always had a superior healing and regenerative ability.

His decision to skip the test on the second floor had been a rash one, he obviously didn't want to as that meant he would leave his companions to their own devices for the time being, but he didn't have much of a choice. He needed to avoid Yu Han Sung's eyes at all costs. Baam couldn't afford to be roped in by F.U.G a second time, nor could he afford to trust them. He might have admired what they stood for – what they were trying to achieve – but their methods were unacceptable. They wanted to kill Zahard, bring an end to the reign of a tyrant, but the innocent people they hurt along the way were just collateral, necessary sacrifices for the greater good.

Well, the amount of money and resources they possessed were something Baam would need access to in time, so he would probably make his presence known eventually, but not until he had the strength to defend himself and those he cared for should the syndicate turn against him.

He might have felt worried about leaving his friends like he did, what if something happened and he wasn't there to stop it? The truth was however that they'd made it once before, in his previous timeline, and at the time he'd been far too weak to actually contribute anything substantial in terms of fighting-power. No, although their road would be rocky and difficult to cross, they would make it this time too, all Baam needed to do was wait.

There was one problem however, Lo Po Bia Ren. His goal and mission was to retrieve the Green April, while at the same time disposing of Anak Zahard. Baam hadn't been there at the time but he'd heard the story from Androssi. The only reason why Anak survived the encounter was because Yuri arrived in time to stop the Ranker, but that was only because the princess was looking for the Black-March which she had previously lent to him.

This time however Baam opened the Tower doors much earlier than in his previous timeline which meant Yuri hadn't been there to offer her help. If Baam let time progress unimpeded, Anak would undoubtedly die at Ren's hands, which was why he needed to prevent the Ranker from reaching the second floor at all costs. Oh well, the ranker shouldn't have started moving just yet. If Baam remembered correctly from his previous timeline, Ren didn't arrive at the Floor of Tests until much later, which was lucky since Baam wasn't anywhere near strong enough to challenge the Ranker in his current state. With enough time however he would crush the bastard.

Baam was now fast approaching the Regulars-district of the inner Tower's 4th floor. This district was actually rather interestingly built. Some of the house's walls were made out of some kind of wood but most of the structures were built out of perfectly see-through glass which contrasted well with the wooden panels and natures exotic, green scenery. It was a truly beautiful, if rather small city.

As Baam entered people started whispering and throwing odd glances at him. They also made sure to give him a wide berth as Baam made his way through the city. It was no wonder, really, considering the state of his clothes and the blood he was undoubtedly covered in he must have looked like a wreck.

Still with the large bag slung over his shoulder, Baam eventually reached a great, glass clad building with a sign above which stated _'Merchants Guild'._ As he entered he was immediately met by a large Regular wearing a tuxedo, slim black pants along with a pair of dark shoes.

The muscular security guard towered over Baam's small frame as he ordered "Stop."

Baam sighed. "What now?"

"What do you think?" The large man sneered. "You can't enter here looking like that. Leave."

Again Baam sighed. "Why not?" He knew why of course. This was a classy establishment, meant only for the rich. A place where people with too much money and time could go to spend that money; on completely unnecessary things one might add. There was no way they were going to grant entrance to some 12 year old kid who looked like he recently rolled through mud while at the same time fending of a rabid dog.

"Leave." The large Regular repeated. "I won't ask a second time."

When Baam in the future looked back to this particular point in time he would not be proud of the way he acted. Because while the security guard _could_ have been kinder with how he turned people away, he was still just doing his job. When you considered the whole picture however, Baam still felt his behavior could be excused. He had just spent approximately four days without sleep, submerged in a sea of toxic Shinsoo, and if that wasn't enough it'd taken approximately one whole day of walking before he reached this damn establishment. Baam was tired, his feet were sore and god was he hungry; so while Baam felt bad about his next actions, he still felt like his behavior could be excused.

Eyes narrowed, Baam muttered. "Move it."

* * *

"Move it." Where the last two words the young clerk heard before all hell broke loose.

The day had started out so peacefully, like it always did. Verdin Laupzi had woken up at seven, eaten a normal breakfast while watching television and then headed out to work. Things had only gone downhill from there however. A young boy, his outer appearance no older than 12 years old, was currently standing in the middle of what very much looked like a battle ground. What with all the beaten and half-unconscious bodies which lay all around him. Six security guards had attacked him, all of which had been smashed into the ground within seconds.

Verdin Laupzi was just a young clerk, which was why when the child turned to him and started walking with slow, measured steps, all he could think was ' _I so don't get paid enough for this!_ ' As the child got closer and closer Verdin steeled himself and when the boy stopped in front of him, Verdin clenched his eyes shut while expecting the worst, only for the large bag which the child was carrying to be dumped on the man's desk. "Uh…?" The clerk questioned dumfounded.

"In there you'll find Shinheuh pelts, claws and teeth of various kinds. How much can I get?" The clerk still looked dumfounded and more than a little unsure so Baam continued. "I'm selling them to your guild. How much?"

Finally shaking himself out of whatever trance the young clerk had put himself in, the man immediately emptied the sack on a counter behind the main desk. He then performed a series of complex tests before returning to Baam. "W-would 7000 points be enough?"

"That sounds reasonable." Actually, it didn't, but since Baam only needed enough money for food, clothes and a warm shower, it was enough for now. He would find alternative sources of income in the future. "Just transfer it to my pocket account and I'll be out of your hair."

"O-of course! Just wait a minute."

When the transfer completed Baam made his thanks before turning around and exiting the guild, leaving a confused and slightly shaken guild-clerk behind.

* * *

 ** _*Around one month later_**

Sitting in the middle of a sea of green; exotic plants and greenery stretching all around him in every direction. In the distance you could hear the quiet pitter-patter of a small stream, slowly moving through the large rainforest.

It'd taken Baam a while to get here. He was still in the 4th floor's Regular-district, but far away from civilization.

Baam was breathing in and out slowly as beads of sweat ran down his brow, letting small amounts of Shinsoo (or incredibly large amounts depending on who you asked) into his body before expelling it.

This was a training method once thought to him by Androssi. By letting Shinsoo roam free inside the body, slowly strengthening the physique, it was possible to increase the amount of Shinsoo a person could manipulate at any given time.

When Baam was first taught this training-method by Androssi he'd thought it odd. Why would the amount of Shinsoo he could manipulate increase just because his body grew stronger? The answer had been simple. One's ability to manipulate Shinsoo could be attributed to two factors. The mind, and the body. The mind was the control, determining how well a person could influence Shinsoo. The body on the other hand worked like a medium, determining the _amount_ of Shinsoo which could be manipulated at any given time.

Normally you wouldn't need to worry about the body, since it automatically grew stronger as one's ability to manipulate Shinsoo increased. In some rare cases however, the mind's growth rate could surpass the body's, creating an imbalance, basically making it impossible for a Wave Controllers abilities to grow, until the body caught up.

With his – what most would call – incredible growth rate, Baam had once faced this problem which was why Androssi had thought him this new training-method, and now he was facing a similar predicament, just on a much larger scale.

Baam had been alive for a _long_ time. He'd had thousands upon thousands of years to develop his mind, to advance his Shinsoo control. In contrast this much younger body he now possessed had been alive for barely over 12 years. His body simply wasn't developed enough, strong enough, to handle the almost unlimited amount of Shinsoo that his mind were capable of controlling, which was why he now sat cross-legged on the ground, slowly letting the Shinsoo inside his body strengthen him.

He was currently capable of controlling 11 Bangs at the same time, as opposed to the six he'd started out with. His fighting ability had increased tremendously over the past month.

And talking about fighting, not that anyone decided to pursue the issue, but Baam still felt kinda sorry for what he did to the Merchant's Guild. He hadn't left any lasting injuries on the security guards he fought, but that had less to do with him being considerate and more to do with the fact that he just didn't have the energy to fight seriously. Oh well, it'd been over one month since the spectacle and the guild hadn't decided to pursue the issue so he was probably safe. Though it was probably a good idea _not_ to visit the guild a second time, he didn't want to push his luck.

Not that he would need to, with the stable income he'd secured himself. He'd invested a bit of money into a small items-shop, using ten percent of the profit to hire someone to run the shop while he was away. Baam created the items himself of course, using various materials he found in the wild as well as collected from Shinheuh. True, he was far from the best items-smith, but he didn't really think he was that bad either.

He didn't make much profit from the shop, basically nothing if compared to the resources F.U.G had once provided him with, but still enough to get by. He'd been forced to buy a new Pocket to, since the one Headon gave him just _happened_ to brake only weeks after he got it – grumpy old cot… it was most likely payback. The old Guardian probably wasn't too happy about Baam skipping the 2nd and 3rd floor's tests.

Baam snapped his eyes open as the miniature Lighthouse he created himself started vibrating in his left pocket.

The item was by far the most advanced piece of equipment he created the past month, taking him almost four full days without sleep to craft and one whole week to setup.

It was set to search the entire 4th floor for a single Shinsoo signature, and then alert Baam the second it was found. Such an advanced item would normally be impossible to create using the materials obtainable on the floor Baam found himself on, but he had cheated and used a slightly unorthodox method. Instead of building a single Lighthouse with a powerful enough signal to cover the entire floor, Baam instead created a gigantic network connecting all Lighthouses on the 4th floor. Using this method the signal didn't need to travel over the nine million square miles which made up the 4th floor but could instead travel the much shorter distance between each Lighthouse.

"So it's finally time…?" Baam mumbled to himself as he stood up, expelling the gathered Shinsoo out of his body.

He wasn't yet at the level of a Ranker, but that still didn't mean he couldn't beat one provided he had enough time to prepare. Lo Po Bia Ren just entered the 4th floor, and was quickly moving towards the Regular's-district. Guess the Ranker needed to resupply before moving on.

Baam clenched his fists as he prepared himself for the confrontation, before pushing of the ground, leaving only a cloud of dust in his wake as he headed for the Ranker. There were people to safe, and for that… some people needed to die.

* * *

 ** _A Tower Of God fanfic! Yeah! Obviously the time travel element isn't very original but I think I'll make it work._**

 ** _There is going to be some romance, mostly between Baam and Androssi, but what I'd like to know from you guys is if I should make it a harem with Androssi as the main girl or BaamXAndrossi only. Tell me in a review would ya?_**

 ** _It's never mentioned in the webtoon, but I think it's safe to assume that Ranker level Baam would be able to go without sleep for a superior amount of time._**

 ** _Not sure when this will be updated. I write slowly and have another story I'm currently working on so it might take a while before this one is updated. But I WILL update it, though it might take a while._**


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